KATHMANDU: Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand has said the government was committed to workers’ society and the Ministry of Home Affairs would sincerely work for the security of the workers.
Inaugurating the national conference of Nepal Trade Union Congress in the Capital City on Sunday, Minister Khand said it was government’s main duty to safeguard workers’ welfare, interest and security.
Labourers and working people have witnessed a serious blow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the programme, Minister Khand recalled that foundation of Nepal’s democratic movement was a labour movement. “Labour movement occurred even earlier than democratic movement. Democratic movement and labour movement are two parts of a coin,” Minister Khand reminded.
During the programme, Nepali Congress central committee members Rama Poudel and Hari Sharan Nepali said the labour rights, Social Security Act and Labour Act unveiled for the cause of labourers should be implemented effectively.
Likewise, Richard Howard, Director of the ILO Country Office for Nepal said social security was the first right to the workers and expressed happiness for the beginning of Social Security Act in Nepal.
The two-day-long national conference will dwell on formation of national labour commission, creation of decent employment, making the foreign employment safe, orderly and regular, capacity development and expansion of labour administration, representation of workers in the policy making bodies, risk reduction of climate change on labourers, placement of labour court in all seven provinces and end to gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace, among others.
According to government data, Nepal has so far a labour force of 16.8 million. Although agriculture makes up only about 28 per cent of Nepal’s GDP, it employs more than two-thirds of the workforce.
Millions of men work as unskilled labourers in foreign countries, leaving the household, agriculture, and raising of children to women alone. Most of the working-age women are employed in agricultural sector, contributions to which are usually ignored or undervalued in official statistics.
Trade unions have played a significant role in earning better working conditions and workers’ rights, both at the company level and the national government level. Worker-friendly labour laws, endorsed by the labour unions as well as business owners, provide a framework for better working conditions and secure future for the employees, but their implementation is severely lacking in practice.
A large number of labour force have sought jobs in foreign countries, mostly Malaysia, South Korea, Israel, Gulf countries including Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman. Likewise, huge number of workers find jobs in India as well.
